So, been leak testing since around 17:00....all seems good so far....no leaks anyhow :whistle:

The first hour or so did a lot of varying the speed of the pump and tilting the tower to extreme angles ....tough with this monster case but completely doable.

I notice if I run the pump full speed for too long (at the start anyhow), seems to create a lot of agitation of the coolant and thus little tiny bubbles and surface bubbles.......I'm just going to run the pump at mid speed though the next 18 hrs or so.....tilting the tower and running the pump from high to low every few hrs commencing in the AM...overnight I'll just let it run mid speed......does this seem like the right approach ??

Will all those little tiny bubbles clinging to the inside of the glass reservoir eventually clear up....?

Also...took just over a Liter to fill....including topping up the reservoir.(reservoir holds around 450 ml)...this seem about right ?

Went with UV Blue Fesser Hose and clear Fesser Coolant...I do have clear Primochill tubing and was going to go with that and blue Fesser Coolant, but decided beig the first kick at the cat I didnt want to be covered elbows to fingers in blue coolant :blarg:

Anyhow, included some pics...I set up a drain manifold with a shut off valve coming directly off the outlet of the pump....was wondering if that secondary inlet on the photon could also be utilized as a drain?

I arranged both my XSPC 360 Rads in push / pull....bottom is an intake and the the top an exhaust....as well there are 3 Penetrators in the front for intake and a another 140mm Intake top back.

I also set my bottom Rad up so that I can easily add another XSPC 240mm Rad in the bottom in case I do decide to get a 3rd 780Ti.

Anyhow,,,thats about it...so far....certainly takes it to a whole new level and certainly I can see how "addictive" it can be.....I mean I havent even finished this thing and I'm already planning another Rad and 3rd Card .....maybe watercool the Mobo...:whistle:
.....
Tomorrow afternoon I should be booting up .....fingers crossed :bananafunky:

Ya, don't run your pump on highest speed setting if you are seeing bubbles form, that's cavitation like from a prop on a boat. Mid speed is usually fine (I run mine on 2), and should be plenty for you as you've got tons of rad for what's in the loop. Those mini-bubbles in the rad will clear up. You can also leave the top of the res open while leak testing, that helps get the air out of the loop.

draemn

April 26, 2014 10:07 PM

imo, it makes no sense to have a rad directly after your reservoir. Sure, you are making certain the CPU gets the coolest water possible, but why wouldn't you put a rad after your CPU to prevent the GPUs from getting the warm temps off the CPU? To me it would make more sense to try and kill off the heat as soon as you generate it.

SugarJ

April 26, 2014 10:13 PM

It really doesn't make much of a difference in the coolant temperature to change the loop like you suggest. Technically you're correct, but in practical terms changing the loop around so the coolant is a degree or two cooler flowing across the GPU's doesn't have much of an effect. I find most GPU's are unstable because of speed/voltage well before they are temperature limited in a WC loop.

rjbarker

April 26, 2014 10:22 PM

^^^^^ everything I read stated temps will stabilize throughout the loop......couple of degrees in one part of the loop I think wll be negligible....thanks Gord ;)

KaptCrunch

April 27, 2014 02:26 AM

2 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjbarker
(Post 764089)

So, been leak testing since around 17:00....all seems good so far....no leaks anyhow :whistle:

The first hour or so did a lot of varying the speed of the pump and tilting the tower to extreme angles ....tough with this monster case but completely doable.

I notice if I run the pump full speed for too long (at the start anyhow), seems to create a lot of agitation of the coolant and thus little tiny bubbles and surface bubbles.......I'm just going to run the pump at mid speed though the next 18 hrs or so.....tilting the tower and running the pump from high to low every few hrs commencing in the AM...overnight I'll just let it run mid speed......does this seem like the right approach ??

Will all those little tiny bubbles clinging to the inside of the glass reservoir eventually clear up....?

Also...took just over a Liter to fill....including topping up the reservoir.(reservoir holds around 450 ml)...this seem about right ?

Went with UV Blue Fesser Hose and clear Fesser Coolant...I do have clear Primochill tubing and was going to go with that and blue Fesser Coolant, but decided beig the first kick at the cat I didnt want to be covered elbows to fingers in blue coolant :blarg:

Anyhow, included some pics...I set up a drain manifold with a shut off valve coming directly off the outlet of the pump....was wondering if that secondary inlet on the photon could also be utilized as a drain?

I arranged both my XSPC 360 Rads in push / pull....bottom is an intake and the the top an exhaust....as well there are 3 Penetrators in the front for intake and a another 140mm Intake top back.

I also set my bottom Rad up so that I can easily add another XSPC 240mm Rad in the bottom in case I do decide to get a 3rd 780Ti.

Anyhow,,,thats about it...so far....certainly takes it to a whole new level and certainly I can see how "addictive" it can be.....I mean I havent even finished this thing and I'm already planning another Rad and 3rd Card .....maybe watercool the Mobo...:whistle:
.....
Tomorrow afternoon I should be booting up .....fingers crossed :bananafunky:

the reason for them tiny bubbles is due to using a 90 elbow @ pump suction, for creating cavitation

use a 45 elbow

Quote:

was wondering if that secondary inlet on the photon could also be utilized as a drain?

if goes to pump inlet I'd use that port for siamese inlet connection with 10" length of 3/4 id to "Y" with your loop size on base of "Y"

if tiny bubbles are persistent

use a syringe to fill/empty lines and also pressurize loop to push out air locks

clshades

April 27, 2014 08:37 AM

most pumps no matter what kind require 2-4 pipe diameters of tubing/piping in order to prevent air build up / cavitation / protect the impellor which is the killer of all heating and cooling loops be it commercial or hobby.

If you are using 1/2ID tubing you would require 1-2 inches of tubing before and after the pump inlet and outlet to get proper performance and prevent air build up. Unfortunately water cooling pumps don't actually have instructions regarding this little gem of info. Kapt is right however I'd be running an inch or 2 of tubing on both the inlet and outlet of the pump prior to any fittings.

I would only mess with the speed settings to aid in air removal. Running your pump max speed will not provide better cooling btw... it will in fact increase the temperature. You will need to do some testing in order to find the optimal pump speed. It's very easy to do too... simply run a graphic intensive program like litecoin mining or folding@home . use any temp measure program (it doesn't need to be perfectly accurate readings) then adjust the speed until you get your lowest average temps.

clshades

April 27, 2014 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by draemn
(Post 764092)

imo, it makes no sense to have a rad directly after your reservoir. Sure, you are making certain the CPU gets the coolest water possible, but why wouldn't you put a rad after your CPU to prevent the GPUs from getting the warm temps off the CPU? To me it would make more sense to try and kill off the heat as soon as you generate it.

Rad placement makes no difference. It's not like the cpu or gpu flashes the water hotter. Water is simply the thermal transfer medium to move heat to the rad.

rjbarker

April 27, 2014 09:32 AM

KC
Just to clarify:
You're saying to use a "Y" Connector and run lines into both return outlets on the reservoir? Next time I drain the loop I can re-orientate the bottom Rad so there are rotary 90's (basically double 45's) coming off the bottom Rad and either no angles into reservoir inlets or 45's at most.
I'll also re-orientate the CPU Block 180 degrees so the inlet is on the right side vs left side.
As far as the larger size tubing goes I'm 3/8" ID and 5/8" OD throughout, having larger at outlets / inlets would require "reducers"...

First game I'll boot up is Batman AC...with vsynch disabled....previously on air...with vsynch disabled, I would be around the 90 - 125 FPS, both Cards utilized 95%...but even with aggressive Fan Profile at which point point both GPU's would be wailing away at 75% Speed (loud), temps would reach 75- 80c...

KaptCrunch

April 27, 2014 09:54 AM

just for inlet for D5 use 0.500 min. on suction with smaller on outlet

try using the gpu return in one inlet port then cpu return in other inlet port